The GP Chronic Condition Management Plan: A Plain-English Guide for Patients

If you live with a long-term health condition, your GP may have talked with you about a care plan. On 1 July 2025, Medicare changed how these plans work. GP Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements were replaced by a single GP Chronic Condition Management Plan, sometimes shortened to GPCCMP.

This guide explains the changes in plain English. It's general information only; your GP can explain what applies to you.

Medicare details checked against official sources on 6 October 2026. Rules can change, so check with your GP or Medicare.

What Replaced the Team Care Arrangement?

From 1 July 2025, the Medicare items for GP Management Plans, Team Care Arrangements and their reviews stopped. In their place is one plan that your GP prepares and reviews with you. The main differences are:

• One plan instead of two. You no longer need both a GP Management Plan and a Team Care Arrangement.
• Direct referrals. Your GP can refer you to allied health directly. The old requirement for your GP to consult at least two other providers was removed.
• Referral letters. Referrals are now written as letters, like a referral to a medical specialist. The old Medicare referral form is no longer needed.
• Ongoing reviews. A plan doesn't need to be rewritten every year. Your existing plan can keep being reviewed.

Who Is a Chronic Condition Management Plan For?

According to the MBS explanatory notes, the plan is available to people with at least one medical condition that has been, or is likely to be, present for at least six months, or that is terminal. There's no list of eligible conditions. Your GP uses their clinical judgement to decide whether a structured plan would suit your situation.

The plan is developed with you. It describes your condition and care needs, the health goals you and your GP agree on, the actions you'll take, and any services your GP will refer you to. Your GP offers you a copy.

If you live in residential aged care, this plan isn't available, but a different plan (a multidisciplinary care plan) may be.

How Do You Get Medicare-Subsidised Allied Health?

If your plan includes allied health care, your GP writes a referral letter for the type of provider you need. Services Australia lists the professions that can provide these services, including physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, dietitians, podiatrists, occupational therapists, psychologists, speech pathologists and others. (New to the term? Our guide to allied health in Australia explains who's who.)

With a plan in place, Medicare provides a rebate for up to five individual allied health services each calendar year (January to December), or up to 10 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The five services are shared across providers. They can all be with one type of provider, or split. MBS Online gives the example of one dietetics service and four podiatry services.

A few other things worth knowing:

• The referral is for a type of provider, not a named person. You can take a physiotherapy referral to any eligible physiotherapist, but not to a different profession.
• Referrals have a time limit. A referral letter is valid for the time stated in it. If no timeframe is given, it lasts 18 months from your first appointment under that referral.
• Medicare or private health, not both. You can't claim Medicare and your private health insurance extras for the same appointment.
• You can check what you've used. Your Medicare Online Account shows your care plan service history.

Not sure how two professions differ? See our guide to exercise physiologists and physiotherapists.

Does the Plan Need to Be Kept Up to Date?

Yes, if you want to keep using Medicare-subsidised allied health. To keep accessing these services, your plan must have been prepared or reviewed within the last 18 months. Reviews can happen as often as every three months if needed. Ask your GP when your next review is due.

What Happens to My Old GP Management Plan?

If you had a GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangement in place before 1 July 2025, you can keep using services consistent with those plans until 30 June 2027. From 1 July 2027, you'll need a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan to keep accessing Medicare-subsidised allied health.

Old plans can't be reviewed under the new items. If your needs change and your plan needs updating, your GP may suggest moving to the new plan. Referrals written before 1 July 2025 stay valid until all the services they cover have been used.

Do I Have to Use My MyMedicare Practice?

If you're registered with a general practice through MyMedicare, your plan and its reviews must be done through that practice. If you're not registered, you can get a plan through your usual GP.

How Is This Different from a Mental Health Treatment Plan?

They're separate Medicare programs. A Mental Health Treatment Plan is part of the Better Access initiative, which is for people assessed with a clinically diagnosed mental disorder. It provides Medicare benefits for up to 10 individual and up to 10 group therapy sessions each calendar year.

A chronic condition management plan covers long-term medical conditions more broadly, with its own allowance of allied health services. Psychologists can provide services under both programs, so ask your GP which one fits your situation.

Questions to Ask Your GP

You might like to bring some of these questions to your appointment:

• Would a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan suit my situation?
• I have an older GP Management Plan. When should we move to the new plan?
• Which types of allied health providers does my plan include?
• How might my five services be shared across those providers this year?
• When is my plan due for review, and when do my referrals expire?
• Could I have a copy of my plan?
• Is a Mental Health Treatment Plan also relevant for me?
• Can you share the relevant parts of my plan with my providers?

Fees and rebates vary between providers and services, so you may have an out-of-pocket cost. It's worth asking each allied health provider about their fees before you book.

Keeping Your Providers Informed

The new framework has some communication built in. With your consent, your GP can share relevant parts of your plan with the members of your care team. Allied health providers must also send your GP a written report after the first and last service under a referral.

Those reports go to your GP. Your other providers often work in different clinics with different systems, so they may not see each other's updates. That's a gap in how the system is set up, not a lack of care. Telling each provider who else you see can help. Our guides on getting your providers talking and coordinating care between providers have more ideas.

If you'd like one place for that information, My Allied Circle lets you invite your providers into a shared circle. Only you and the providers you invite or approve can see your circle, and they can read and add notes there. It's communication software. It doesn't replace your GP's plan or referrals; it simply helps everyone stay on the same page.

Talk to Your GP

How the plan applies to you depends on your circumstances. If you have a long-term condition and see, or may need, allied health providers, ask your GP whether a plan is right for you.

Sources

• MBS Online: Changes to Chronic Disease Management Framework, Overview (22 May 2025)
• MBS Online: Item 965 and explanatory note AN.0.47
• MBS Online: Item 10950 and explanatory notes AN.15.3 and AN.15.5
• MBS Online: Item 10960 and explanatory note MN.3.1
• Services Australia: Services available under a GP chronic condition management plan
• Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Better Access initiative